During my first Introductions photo shoot, I met Joe Wojak, the owner of the motorcycle Armen Amirian was fixing. I told Joe about my projects, and he proceeded to introduce me to a couple of people he knew who fit the bill. This week’s participant is one of Joe’s friends, Cassie Bowman, a food blogger from Brooklyn.

Cassie has been cooking since she was a little girl. She comes from a foodie family - her parents love to cook and entertain, and it rubbed off on Cassie. She was frequently cooking and baking and bringing the finished product into work, and her co-workers were always asking for her recipes, so she decided to start a blog to share with the world. Cassie now posts the recipes for her culinary creations, along with colorful descriptions of the process and beautiful pictures on a weekly basis. She said she gets her inspiration for recipes from cookbooks, which she always receives as presents for birthdays and holidays, as well as from other food bloggers.

Cassie and I have been searching for a mutually agreeable date since late January, and we finally made it work two weeks after Cassie, her fiancée, Jordan, and their cocker spaniel, Brody, moved out of Manhattan and into a spacious ground floor apartment in Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens neighborhood. I was impressed by how quickly she maneuvered in her recently unpacked kitchen, working around me and my light stand as well as Brody – who was there to help clean up anything that accidentally dropped off the counter!

On the day we caught up, Cassie made Rhubarb and Strawberry Muffins. You can read her blog post at www.cassieskitchennyc.com for the recipe, but I’ve attached some images of the process here. She said that while she started out as a very messy cook (she got that from her dad), she has learned to keep things neat since she started blogging, so she can take pictures along the way. Believe it or not, I had never had Rhubarb before, so I was anxious to try the finished product. The smell coming from the oven didn’t disappoint - they were excellent. And I think Cassie was relieved that the yet-to-be-tested oven worked as expected!

Thank you, Cassie for allowing me into your home to document your process and for an enjoyable afternoon. I encourage everyone to follow Cassie at www.cassieskitchennyc.com and try some of her recipes. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!